Independent
by Thingygazinga
Summary: Annabeth was independent. She could take care of herself, didn't need any bodyguards, and could fight her own battles. And then the people she cared for passed away or closed off, and she finds herself depending on son of Poseidon. One-shot.


Disclaimer: I do not own PJO. And you should know that... :)

Annabeth was not impressed by the scrawny boy with the messy hair and the sea green eyes. In fact, the only thing that she was just a little bit curious about was the fact that he had killed the Minotaur single handily. And maybe his cool eyes. Just maybe. Not really, though. She couldn't help but compare the boy to Luke; tall, handsome, startling blue eyes, and smart. Yeah, Annabeth was not seeing it.

When they went on their first quest together, she couldn't help but think of them as acquaintances. _Just get this over with._ Annabeth was determined to make her mom proud. She shut herself out from Percy, refused to be with him unless absolutely necessary. After all, he was the son of her mother's biggest rivalry. Annabeth didn't think they'll be anything but quest partners. But then he'd made her open up, when usually it took at least years for someone to make her talk to them about her family. And he seemed to understand, and didn't look or treat her any differently from then on. When they got back, the stupid seaweed brain had to just go out and almost get stung by a pit scorpion. _Seriously, that idiot could survive a fight with_ Ares _, but is going to die from a stinking scorpion!?_ Yeah. That was not amusing. And she found herself caring, panicking even, for his life. When he woke up, and she found out that _Luke_ , her _big brother_ , had done that, she was beyond angry. That year, Annabeth vowed that she would always be on the side that Percy was on. Because they were friends. But she wasn't dependent, nope. She wasn't that year.

Second year since Percy came, and Annabeth felt that she was once again being replaced. Percy chose the _cyclopes_ over _her_! I mean, yeah, she understood that the cyclopes was his brother, but she knew him and was his friend first! It wasn't fair, and it took all of her to not ditch him right then and there. She didn't want the same thing happening to her again. Her family, Luke, Thalia, they had all abandoned her. Even though Percy had chosen her for the quest, Annabeth still felt that that wasn't enough. Then, Tyson went missing, and she felt a little bit guilty. And then Percy saved her from the sirens, and was stupid enough to mix up hubris with hummus, and then saved her life again with the golden fleece and from Luke. By then, she decided that she'll forgive him. Just a little. She showed that by giving him a little peck on the cheek. Gods know that he had never been kissed by a girl before. Annabeth told herself that she did _not_ feel a little bit happy about being the first one to do that. (But she did.)

The pain was too much. Mental and physical. Mental, because she couldn't believe that Luke would've done that to her. She had believed he had told the truth, but he had let her down without a second thought. Physical, because she felt as though a bus had ran over her, backed up, ran her over again, then threw her off a cliff. (how a bus did that all, she had no idea. Then again, she was also not in her right state of mind. It's hard to think when you're literally lifting the weight of the world.) And, oh gods, the pain was _so much_ , and she didn't think she was going to survive, and she couldn't help but feel shame. She wasn't strong enough. She wasn't smart enough. SHE COULDN'T EVEN THINK OF A FREAKING PLAN TO GET OUT! The pain was slowly crushing her, eating away at her soul, and-

"Wise girl."

She almost sobbed. Annabeth shook her head weakly, disgusted at how vulnerable she had become. No, this was just a hallucination. She had already gotten one about Grover, Thalia, her mom, heck, even her dad! But she looked up anyways, desperate to see those sea-green eyes. And see them she did.  
"Hey, wise girl. Hold on. I'm coming for you." Percy smiled, that sarcastic, trouble-maker smile at her. And Annabeth held on.

He had grown taller. Tanner. And more...good looking. But his eyes were still that swirling, ever-changing sea green that had grown to be her favorite color. Annabeth tried to smush the feelings of a stupid crush coming up. He was her best friend, and as oblivious as a blind chicken. But, of course, she failed. _Foolish, idiotic teenage hormones._ For a while she succeeded in decreasing the feeling a little, but then he was acting like the reckless, selfless, heroic person he was, and she couldn't help but kiss him. She ran away before she could see his reaction. The attractions came in full blast at the time when he was thought dead. She covered it up with anger and betrayal when he came back, looking well-fed and perfectly fine. Then the Rachel girl came. With her curly red hair, and pretty, innocent face, and a demi-god free life, Annabeth could understand why Percy seemed to like her. But that didn't mean Annabeth had to like that. She had freaking _kissed_ that stupid sea-weed brain, and now he was going to another girl!? Oh, Annabeth did NOT like Rachel one bit. And her thoughts weren't controlled by jealously. Nope. They weren't. ( _oh that stinking, petty, red-haired girl. WHO DID SHE THINK SHE WAS!? Oh, she was going to get it. She was. The plan of revenge is already here..._ )

Percy seemed different. Annabeth didn't know if it was just a gut feeling, or the way he held himself, but he was _different_. She didn't know if she liked it. When they were on the bridge, Annabeth just had a _plain wrong_ feeling, and she felt apprehensive, and a bit scared. When she saw the knife, she immediately stepped in front of Percy, trying not to scream in pain as the celestial bronze ripped into her flesh. _Poison_. Stupid her. Annabeth should've known. But she guessed something good came out of that. He trusted her with his Achilles heal. And only her. Yeah, that practically made up for the wound. After the war, when he was offered immortality, Annabeth thought, _This is it. I'm done for. He's leaving me...just like all the others..._  
He refused. And even though all the gods were glaring at him, looking offended, Annabeth wanted to laugh in pure relief. He was _staying_. With her. And she was never going to let him go. That night, she baked him a cupcake with Tyson, and she just felt so _happy_ and _elated_ , that she leaned in and kissed him. After all, if he wasn't going to make the first move, then she had to take things into her own hands, right? (it was even better that that Rachel girl was now the Oracle and couldn't date.)

Annabeth didn't notice how much she depended on Percy until he disappeared. It was obviously too late to take back how much she relied on Percy, back, but Annabeth found that she didn't care.  
"I'll find you, Seaweed brain."


End file.
